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THE SOUTH'S #

CLUB

INVITES YOU TO COME ON DOWN

3RD ANNUAL

TO GAY MARDI-GRAS '75

FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

MAY MAY 23, 24, 25,1975

3 DAYS & NITES

OF NON-STOP GETTING IT ON

AT THE

ELECTRIC COMPANY

EASTGATE SHOPPING CENTRE

919 967-6969

CHAPELHILL N.C.

MEDIA

Lavender & Horny

by George DeWoody

What weighs a ton, is horny and screams of lavender? Bostonians would answer, "A Lavender Rhino, of course." Well, some Bostonians would. Now, over a year since its birth, the advertising campaign of Lavender Rhino, Inc. has taken proper Boston by storm. In its wake, you see Lavender Rhino buttons, T-shirts, stickers and, most visibly, posters "riding 'neath the streets of Boston" on subway cars of the MBTA.

Bernie Toal and Tom Morganti, co-directors of Gay Media ActionAdvertising, began work early in 1974 to develop a gay message in the public media. Prior to their efforts, the only media exposure for. gay people in the Boston area was from participation in various demonstrations and Gay Pride Week activity. Successful as these events were, press coverage was usually distorted and miserably brief. In order for gay people to retain control of content and context, Gay Media Action-Advertising and the Lavender Rhino were born. The "invisible minority" would be

seen.

Bernie Toal explains, "The rhino is a much maligned and misunderstood animal and, in actuality, is a gentle creature-but don't cross him or her! The color lavender, a mixture of pink and blue,

expresses the merger of feminine and masculine qualities into one: the human quality."

"The first ad," explains Daniel Thaxton, the artist who drew the illustrations, "expresses a feeling of gay people being different, yet simultaneously the same, through the use of six identical rhino images, five grey and one lavender, all with red hearts. The second develops the stage of 'coming out' or self-acceptance and selfrealization, and the third expresses the visionary goal of a society in harmony with all its unique qualities."

The series of three messages was designed as subway placards and, under the auspices of a recognized non-profit organization, The Charles Street Universalist Meetinghouse, they were submitted to the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority). Metro Transit Advertising, agent for the MBTA, accepted the campaign, but not at the expected public service rate. The difference between the $2 per poster public service rate and the $7 commercial rate meant more than the considerable amount of money involved. At issue was the definition of "public service." Boston Globe "Ads & Agencies" columnist David Kemp puts it this way, "By quibbling over the public

SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR

GAY MARDI-GRAS

'75

MEMORIAL DAY WEEK-END

CONTESTS:

SPECIAL

* MR. ELECTRIC CO.

*BEST COSTUME

*BEST DANCERS

ATTRACTIONS:* PIANO BAR

PRIZES:

* HAPPY HOURS

*MOVIE: "FORTUNE AND

MEN'S EYES"

*DISCO-DANCING ALL NITE!

* CA$H

*TROPHIES

* SPECIAL PRIZE: TRIP TO FIRE ISLAND

THE ADVOCATE

May 7, 1975

Photo: Barton